Evidence Syria rebels ‘used sarin’Testimony from victims of the conflict in Syria suggests rebels have used the nerve agent, sarin, a leading member of a UN commission of inquiry has said. Carla Del Ponte told Swiss TV that there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof”.
Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops SyriaThe talks appear to offer an alliance between the OPEC cartel and Russia, which together produce over 40m barrels a day of oil, 45pc of global output. Such a move would alter the strategic landscape. The details of the talks were first leaked to the Russian press.
NSA Has Been Spying On Members Of Congress For A Long Time | FDL News DeskDuring the drama over the so-called Amash Amendment General Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, went to Capitol Hill to lobby against the law. During the course of his lobbying members of Congress responded to his presentations with a reasonable question – can we see our own files? Alexander said no.
In Rush to Strike Syria, U.S. Tried to Derail U.N. ProbeIn Rush to Strike Syria, U.S. Tried to Derail U.N. Probe – After initially insisting that Syria give United Nations investigators unimpeded access to the site of an alleged nerve gas attack, the administration of President Barack Obama reversed its position on Sunday and tried unsuccessfully to get
NSA intimidation expanding surveillance state: ColumnIf there’s any confirmation that the U.S. government has commandeered the Internet for worldwide surveillance, it is what happened with Lavabit earlier this month. Lavabit is — well, was — an e-mail service that offered more privacy than the typical large-Internet-corporation services that most of us use.
DoD training manual suggests Founding Fathers followed ‘extremist ideology’A Department of Defense training manual obtained by a conservative watchdog group pointed to the original American colonists as examples of an extremist movement, comments that have sparked fear of a broader crackdown on dissent in America. The training manual provides information that describes, among other things, “common themes in extremist ideologies.”
David Miranda and the Death of Anti-terrorismOver the past decade, the United States has stretched the definition of “terrorism” to justify or disguise expansions of surveillance and war. In 2003, President Bush declared that overthrowing Arab dictators was part of the “war on terror.” From 2004 to 2007, the Bush administration persuaded the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial CrisisWhen a little birdie dropped the End Game memo through my window, its content was so explosive, so sick and plain evil, I just couldn’t believe it. The Memo confirmed every conspiracy freak’s fantasy: that in the late 1990s, the top US Treasury officials secretly conspired with a small cabal of banker big-shots to rip apart financial regulation across the planet.
The Age of Neo-feudalism: A Government of the Rich, by the Rich and for the CorporationsMembers of Congress, entrusted to represent the best interests of the average American, instead play out a stilted, ineffective soap opera on our TV screens, complete with phony discussions of fiscal cliffs and debt ceilings which take the place of real proposals for meaningful change in the country.
Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searchesIf the police arrest you, do they need a warrant to rifle through your cellphone? Courts have been split on the question. Last week the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to resolve the issue and rule that the Fourth Amendment allows warrantless cellphone searches.
Snowden: American media ‘abdicated their role as check to power’NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has gone on the offensive against his critics in the US, accusing the mainstream media there of failing their audiences “for fear of being seen as unpatriotic and punished in the market.” In a rare interview, Snowden explained why he chose a UK journalist and a documentary filmmaker for his leaks.
Former Internet Provider Gagged by National Security Letter Recounts How He Was Silenced for 6 YearsWe continue our discussion of government surveillance and Internet privacy with someone who was under an FBI gag order for six years. In early 2004, Nicholas Merrill, who was running an Internet service provider in New York called Calyx, was issued a national security letter that ordered him to hand over detailed private records about some of his customers.
Intelligence committee withheld key file before critical NSA vote, Amash claimsA leader of the US congressional insurrection against the National Security Agency’s bulk surveillance programs has accused his colleagues of withholding a key document from the House of Representatives before a critical surveillance vote.
The NSA-DEA police state tangoThis week’s DEA bombshell shows us how the drug war and the terror war have poisoned our justice system
Justice Department Fights Release of Secret Court Opinion Finding Unconstitutional SurveillanceIn the midst of revelations that the government has conducted extensive top-secret surveillance operations to collect domestic phone records and internet communications, the Justice Department was due to file a court motion Friday in its effort to keep secret an 86-page court opinion that determined that the government had violated the spirit of federal surveillance laws and engaged in unconstitutional spying.
Snowden’s Asylum: ‘It’s the law, stupid’The most influential media in the United States has lived up to its pro-government bias in the Snowden Affair in three major ways: firstly, by consistently referring to Snowden by the demeaning designation of ‘leaker’ rather than as ‘whistleblower’ or ‘surveillance dissident,’ both more respectful and accurate.
Obama’s former adviser ridicules statement that NSA doesn’t spy on AmericansUnited States President Barack Obama insists his government isn’t in the business of domestic surveillance, but one of his former advisers says that’s contrary to the truth.